BI & Data ScienceTableau vs Power BI

Data has changed the way the business world works. But with so many data sources, it can be hard to know where to start. Our team of experts has broken down the similarities and differences between Tableau and Microsoft Power BI to help you make the right decision for your company.

Not so long ago, every time an end user wanted to create a report of any type, they had to ask someone in the IT department to create it. Over the past few years, there have been significant advances in the democratization of business intelligence (BI), mainly thanks to Tableau Software and Microsoft Power BI.

In fact, Power BI software makes it relatively easy for any end user to access data from multiple sources, clean it up, and dynamically generate reports on a one-time basis in minutes.

Tableau Software provides a set of richer analytical tools that allow you to not only create reports, but also poll data, allowing end users to perform a richer set of "what if"analyses.

Power BI is also designed to be used as a cloud service, while Tableau provides organizations with the ability to deploy their software on-premises, in a public cloud, or use it as a service.

Regardless of the path chosen, the main advantage that both applications provide is that end users can now visualize the data in a way that allows them to make more informed decisions faster.

Microsoft Power BI Price

Microsoft has a simple pricing model that reflects the same approach as in Microsoft Office 365. Users can choose one of two pricing methods. Power BI Pro, priced at $ 9.99 / user / month, is classified as a self-service BI and is part of Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise E5. Power BI Premium is licensed with dedicated cloud computing and storage resources at a price of $ 4,995 per month.

Table Price

Tableau assumes a deeper level of usage – $ 500 per user per year with no data limit. In addition, Tableau goes far beyond a simple per-user subscription model, offering a wide range of licensing options depending on the specific role that individuals play in the organization. For example, end users who only need to use the data are cheaper than end users who create the data. While this may be difficult to navigate, in theory, Tableau's approach could lead to a lower total cost of ownership for some organizations.

Ease of use

Power BI has a small advantage because it is based on a user interface that has its roots in Microsoft Office 365, which most end users are already familiar with. But when it comes to data granularity, Tableau provides some notable advantages. Tableau also invests in natural language capabilities specifically designed for BI use cases.

Implementation

Power BI is limited to Azure, so it is required to operate on MS services and invest in Azure cloud. So the setup and implementation is relatively simple.Tableau offers a simpler online service, but also gives IT organizations the ability to deploy their software on an on-premises server or in Amazon Web Services( AWS), Google Cloud Platform, or Microsoft Azure.

Customization

Microsoft has a long history of focusing on the needs of developers. With Power BI, it's relatively easy for developers to embed analytics reports in other applications. Setting up Tableau may require considerable experience depending on the complexity of the task.Tableau makes available a range of connectors and application programming interfaces (APIs).

Integrations

Microsoft has made significant strides in expanding the reach of Power BI beyond its own applications and cloud services. But in terms of being able to access a wide variety of data sources, Tableau already supports 67 native connections, including live connections for real-time analysis. Tableau also simplifies the use of a large number of data models developed in various programming languages.

Support Service

Microsoft clearly has the resources it needs to provide a level of free support for any application it provides. But Tableau focuses all of its efforts on a single application. Tableau has more than 160,000 active users, participating in more than 500 global user groups. The Tableau online community has more than 150,000 active customers.

Support Service

Microsoft clearly has the resources it needs to provide a level of free support for any application it provides. But Tableau focuses all of its efforts on a single application. Tableau has more than 160,000 active users, participating in more than 500 global user groups. The Tableau online community has more than 150,000 active customers.

Features and additions

Microsoft has an app store that already has a number of Power BI add-ons. The number of Tableau add-ons remains relatively limited.

How to decide what is best for your situation

Most of the decision about which analytical application to rely on comes down to the required depth of analytics. In terms of providing access to the core BI capabilities, Microsoft's Power BI is available at a price that is too compelling for average end users to ignore. And getting users familiar with Microsoft products can prove invaluable at the level of acceptance and acceptance.

But when it comes to a tool that will appeal to professional analysts, the richness of the Tableau analytics platform will be required. Add a laser focus to Tableau's comprehensive support, and organizations that make analytics one of their top priorities may find the package most appealing.

To summarize what is better - Tableau or Power BI, while Power BI is still a force to be reckoned with in the data visualization space, Tableau is deservedly making inroads.

Especially if you're searching data visualisation tool for a company, Tableau definitely will be  more suitable choice. You will be able to start working and creating faster and with fewer difficulties, especially if you will choose a suitable partner for that.

Mobile Reality is alliance partner of visual analytics platform Tableau Software.

It allows our customers and partners to analyse their data more effectively by visualising it quickly and easily, identifying new business insights and opportunities. 

Read also our other articles in this theme: Advantages and disadvantages of Tableau and Tableau vs Qlik